


If Change Had Another Name it Would be Nostalgia

by TinyBoxMaya_0321



Category: IT - Stephen King, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove gets somewhat of a redemption, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Crossover, Eleven | Jane Hopper Needs A Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Gay Will Byers, Gen, How Do I Tag, I Tried, M/M, One-Sided Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Other, Richie Tozier Needs a Hug, Richie Tozier in Love, The Losers Club (IT) Love Each Other, The Party (Stranger Things) Love Each Other, The Party and the Losers Club Become Friends, Will Byers Needs a Hug, again i really tried, heavy on the theme the first chapter sorry, hopefully this becomes a series, i just want everyone to be happy plz, so i fixed that lol, tbh, tbh i fixed a lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 09:37:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20703845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyBoxMaya_0321/pseuds/TinyBoxMaya_0321
Summary: Nostalgia. Will had been familiar with that feeling ever since Eleven joined the party. His party. Will couldn’t blame El (and in retrospect he knew he never really did), and now he couldn’t even imagine blaming the girl who came to be his best friend and his sister.Nostalgia is to blame for those feelings.And he knows nostalgia even more as he leaves the only home he believed he ever had.~~~~~~WELCOME TO DERRY!~~~~~~Someone moved in next door to Bill Denbrough, and everyone in the Losers Club-for some reason-nominated Richie Tozier to greet them.They regret that the next day when Beverly Marsh, who had gone with him, couldn't get the words out of what happened without dying of laughter.





	If Change Had Another Name it Would be Nostalgia

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I know something like this has been done before but I hope I can try to be a little original with how the story is gonna go. 
> 
> This is my first fanfiction im ever gonna post and im excited and nervous. I tried! I hope you enjoy the first part of hopefully many more to come! 
> 
> Also, constructive criticism and feedback are always welcome! :))

Nostalgia. Will had been familiar with that feeling ever since Eleven joined the party. His party. Will couldn’t blame El (and in retrospect he knew he never really did), and now he couldn’t even imagine blaming the girl who came to be his best friend and his sister. But there was a time where he hated her. The minute El came into his and everyone else's lives, nothing had ever been the same. It couldn’t be the same. When she came into their lives, he resented her. He had been missing for months, stuck in a place where it was cold; so, so, _so_, terribly cold. He had been missing in a place where he was always scared, always hiding. He went missing with a group of friends he wouldn’t trade for the world, who would be by each other's side for the rest of their lives. He went missing with feelings for his best friend-feelings he shouldn’t be feeling. Then he was found, waking up to see his mom and Chief Hopper. He was found, coming home sick and cold and scared and just wanting to sleep. He was found, coming home to his best friends. Best friends who wouldn’t stop talking about “Eleven.” He came to learn about the girl with the ability to make things move with her mind, who apparently found him and saved his life. He came to learn about the girl that Mike seemed to miss more than he did Will when Will had gone missing. And so he had resented her, hated her, even. Because that’s all that his friends would talk about anymore.__

_ _“Her powers were so cool!” Dustin had said, looking more excited then he ever had been for any of their D&D campaigns. _ _

_ _“She was pretty badass,” Lucas had stated, more impressed then he ever had been of any of Will’s character creations._ _

_ _“I just miss her so much, guys.” Mike-sweet, lovable, Mike. His best friend who he loved and knew he wasn’t supposed to love, had muttered, looking more sad and upset then he ever had when Will had to leave to go back home. Or when Will had gone missing._ _

_ _And so, with a heavy and broken heart, he resented her. The girl he never met and had the name of a number. He resented her because his friends seemed to care more about her than him, or the party, or his campaigns or anything._ _

_ _But then he met her, actually, truly met her. It took a while, but slowly and surely, his feelings began to change._ _

_ _Will met her when her hair was greasy and slicked back and she was completely gothed out and she had thrown a demi-dog through the freaking window. He hated her when he saw her, because he knew who she was. He knew because his friends always brought her up. He knew it was her because they told him of a girl with magical powers and a love for eggos. He knew it was her because he just knew. He met her, but that feeling still stabbed him in the heart and the stomach. _ _

_ _He hated her when Mike slowly began to spend more time with her instead of the party. _ _

_ _He hated Eleven when Max would scoff at him anytime he said something she believed was dumb, and El smiled and laughed at her words._ _

_ _Will hated Eleven when Lucas and Dustin would stare at her in awe when she would make the Millenium Falcon toy fly._ _

_ _And Will seemed to hate her the most when he watched her and Mike kiss, but he told himself it was because they always spent so much time together._ _

_ _Will resented her because he felt so alone. He resented her because all his friends would talk to her, and play with her, and go to movies with her (“because she needs the experience Will!” Mike had told him) and seemingly leave him to the dust._ _

_ _Will hated her because ever since she came to be, no-one would play DnD with him anymore. He hated her because Mike loved her. He hated her because his friends thought she was cooler to hang out with. He resented her because she changed everything. _ _

_ _And when Billy Hargrove had become flayed, and he watched her time and time again throw the Mind Flayer around like it was a baseball (how he hated baseball), and he watched her be so freakishly brave when she tore a part of the Flayer from her own body, Will hated her. Will hated her because he wanted to be just as brave. He wanted to be able to do something like her. He wanted to be able to protect people like she did. He wanted to be strong. _ _

_ _It wasn’t until she brought Billy back from possession. It wasn’t until she lost Hopper and the only home she had ever known that Will began to change his mind. It wasn’t until she lost so much that Will began to hate himself even more than he already did._ _

_ _It wasn’t until she had come to him, her eyes sad and wet with tears, in the middle of the night just weeks after Starcourt and asked him a question, that Will realized just how stupid he had been._ _

_ _“Will.” She began, looking at him with that look. “Why do you hate me?”_ _

_ _Will hadn’t known what to say. He didn’t think he was being too obvious. He had tried for Mike’s sake (Will couldn’t get “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” out of his head, and he promised himself to never let Mike say those words again) to keep quiet. He tried to smile and nod when she spoke, to act like he thought she was cool and the awesomest person in the world. _ _

_ _“I don’t-” he had begun._ _

_ _“No.” She interrupted him before could finish his statement. “Friends don’t lie.” _ _

_ _And she fixed him with that look-that look she gave to Dustin whenever he said something stupid and that look she gave to Lucas when he encouraged it. And Will had sat there for a moment. He tried to figure out why he actually hated her, why he couldn’t look her in the eye. Taking a deep breath, he did just that for the first time. Her face held and expression of sadness and questioning. An expression of confusion._ _

_ _And so he told her, maybe against his better judgement. Will told her everything. He told her about before the Demogorgon, he told her about the Upside Down. He told her about coming home to his friends acting like he never left and how they danced around him. He told El about how they would only talk about her, nothing else. He told her about feeling alone and scared. He told her about wanting to be just as brave and powerful as her. And he told her about nostalgia. He told her how he was so wrecked with wanting what he had before everything changed that he couldn’t accept what had come to be. He even told her, with heavy hesitation, about Mike. He told her about his feelings, and when she looked confused:_ _

_ _“El-” he started. “I love him like he loves you.” _ _

_ _Maybe Will’s voice cracked when he said that final line of his story, but he ignored it in favor of watching as El’s expression grew into that of understanding._ _

_ _“You hate me because I changed everything. I took everything from you” El said matter of factly._ _

_ _“You didn’t take everything from me.” But he said it with a strong hesitation. _ _

_ _She fixed him with that puppy-dog head tilt and it hit Will, that maybe, just maybe, that was why he hated her. Maybe he did actually believe she took everything from him. _ _

_ _Will hated her when he came back from the Upside Down and everyone talked about her instead of hanging out. Will hated her when she joined the party because Mike stopped paying attention to Will at all. And Will hated her because she took away all the normal that was in Will’s life. So was that why he hated her? Did he truly believe that she took everything away from him?_ _

_ _He now realized, after meeting her face-to-face, that he was being selfish._ _

_ _“I’m sorry El.” He said, this time without that earlier hesitation. “You didn’t take everything from me. I’m sorry I was being so selfish.”_ _

_ _And she looked at him for a moment, and Will worried that he had said that wrong, that she thought he was still blaming her. He worried that she would realize he was a jerk and finally hate him back. Instead, she hugged him._ _

_ _He was so shocked he didn’t hug back. When she pulled away, she faced him with her hands on his shoulder and told him something he still thought about. Something that was brought to his mind as he held back tears and looked out the moving car window:_ _

_ _“You are not selfish. Change is good, but it can also be sad, and even bad. Me losing Hopper was bad change. But I still have a home because of you and your mom. You went missing. I came, and everyone began having different interests. You love Mike but he loves me.” She stopped for a moment, trying to figure out what to say next. “You have the right to not like me, Will. And maybe you do not take change well. I know I don’t. I just want to say, I do not hate you Will. I can’t hate you for being so sad.”_ _

_ _And Will had burst into tears, confused and scared and so mad at himself for hating someone so kind. He cried because he began to realize that maybe he never hated her. Maybe that feeling was just nostalgia, messing with his growing feelings for Mike and the fear of everything. He cried as he realized that, no, he never hated her. He hated the change. That change just happened to come when she came._ _

_ _He cried as El held him, shushing him and telling him it would be okay. He cried as she continued to tell him she wouldn’t hate him. He cried as he replayed everything that she had told him over and over again in his jumbled and broken thoughts. Everything that Will knew deep down in his heart. He cried as she understood his reasoning as to why _he hated _her (and of course El understood. She always seemed to understand). He cried because even after everything he had told her and everything she had told him, she still comforted him and told him it would be alright.____

_ _ _ _ _ _Now, as Will sat in the passenger seat of his brother’s car, he replayed the memory in his head. He closed his eyes at said memory, thinking about how that had been just three months ago. Just a week or two after everything at Starcourt. It wasn’t too long ago, but now it seemed like a lifetime away._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _They were brother and sister in every way but blood now, caring for each other and sharing in a trauma that differed from the trauma everyone else had. He sunk deeper into the car seat, eyes still closed and thoughts still on memories. He was aware of Jonathan’s eyes on him, but he was only worried about El. About their shared moments of trust._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _Since he had told her so much about himself and finally broke down in front of her, he began to go to her for help and for advice. He went for a different kind of relationship he didn’t get from the rest of the Party. In turn, she came to him for the same reasons. So he cared for her deeply. He still hated himself quite a bit for how he used to treat her, but that was mostly behind them now. Though he never apologized for being so harsh, he figured he wouldn't have to. El seemed to know everything, and that included just how he was feeling._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _But he worried for her now, ten hours since they had last talked to each other (the longest they had gone in months). He was worried because her powers were just now slowly beginning to recharge. Very, very, slowly beginning to recharge. She had been so devastated about losing her abilities, and he knew just how much of a toll it had taken on her. He worried she wasn’t dealing with well right now. She was happy they were coming back, but she wished they could come back faster._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _He also worried for her because they were now on their way to some small town in Maine instead of being with their friends in Hawkins, Indiana. He worried because Hawkins was really the only home she had known and he didn’t know how she would react to a new place. He worried because if Will had learned anything, it was that they tended to share many feelings similarly, and that included the feelings toward moving. _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _He wished now, ten hours since they had talked to each other, that he had ridden with El, or that she had ridden with him in his brother’s car. Because he needed El, even with the lingering feelings of guilt and hatred that burned his gut and made him feel even worse than he already did.  
He opened his eyes and watched the trees and other cars pass by on some highway in New York. There was a familiar feeling burning in his gut as he thought about El and everyone back in Hawkins. Nostalgia._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _Yes, Will knew all too well about Nostalgia. And as he began to drift-both to sleep and deeper into his thoughts-he began to welcome this stupid feeling. With a small smile on his tear-stricken face, he slowly started to think that maybe nostalgia wasn’t a bad thing._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _Will knew when they got to that town in Maine it would take a while for everything to come back to normal (as normal the Byers and anyone from Hawkins could be, anyway). Will knew he and El would become even closer, if that was possible, and that they would stay up late waiting for the weekly promised call from Mike and the Party. He knew that it would be them against the world. _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _Will knew that stupid old nostalgia would hit Will harder than before, but now it would be different. He would welcome it because he had El. He had his mom. He had Jonathan. He had Steve and Nancy and Robin. He had the Party that had finally picked itself up from pieces and became how it was supposed to be. He had his family. Maybe he was scared, and maybe he just wanted Hawkins, and his old, old life back, where they could be all together. But he knew he would still be with El and everyone else, even if they were 1,200 miles apart. _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _Will, and he knew El shared these thoughts, was more scared to live somewhere new because those people wouldn’t understand. They wouldn’t know all the trauma, all the feelings and all the heartbreak. But still, he knew he had El and everyone else. This would bring more change, but now he was going through it with his family. The people that mattered the most._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _He was scared because El was the only person who knew his feelings toward Mike. Even if everyone back at home didn’t know, he still believed they would accept him just as El did (maybe not Mike, but he tried not to think about that). If those feelings got out in Hawkins, he would have a ton of people to back him up. If those feelings got out in this new town, he didn’t know what would happen. He could be killed, or they might have to move again. He had his family still, even if they were 1,200 miles apart. It brought him relief, but his fear still held strong._ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _He was scared, terrified, but he had his _family_.___ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _So, yes. Will Byers knew very well about nostalgia as he drifted off to sleep, and he still knew about it as he woke up 6 hours later. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Nostalgia hit him harder than ever as he blinked away sleep and glanced up at the up to the “WELCOME TO MAINE” sign that flashed quickly by. It hit him harder than ever, but despite that, he smiled. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Yes, Will Byers knew just about everything about nostalgia, and instead of taking it in with sadness and pain, he almost welcomed it. And as he saw El peek at the mirror of the moving truck she rode in and smiled and waved at him, Will really did accept the old friend that was nostalgia._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Will Byers, as the “WELCOME TO MAINE” sign turned to “DERRY WELCOMES YOU,” just two hours later, decided that, yes, he would welcome good old nostalgia with wide open arms._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Bring it on, he thought, sitting straight in his seat. He gazed at the older and worn down building of this new town, interested in the people milling about on the streets. He watched as few boys rode by on their bikes, looking excited. He watched as they were joined by a girl with fire-red hair that reminded him of Max and grinned lightly as they took a sharp turn and one of them fell off his bike. He caught sight of a diner, and made a note to take El there. Looking up to where said girl sat, he became energized by El’s funny faces she was making in the rearview mirror. He began to realize that he truly had nothing to fear. He smiled as she stuck her tongue out at him, and watched as she laughed after he did the same. He sunk back down in his seat and smiled again. Bring it on, world, he repeated to himself, placing his fingers on the passenger-side window. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _After everything he had been through, Will Byers knew he was no longer afraid of the devil disguised as nostalgia._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> There it is! I hope it was all ok!
> 
> I think that El and Will can have a really cool relationship so im gonna try to make sure to build up that dynamic. Super excited for the chapters to come! Have a great day/night/whatever time it is for you! 
> 
> :)


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